1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel means for manually holding a stack of one or more karate boards in a striking position. The novel holding means may be used during practice sessions and during exhibitions with greater safety both to the karateka and to the persons holding the stack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of karate in a form of self defense in which blows by the hands, feet and elbows are accurately delivered to vulnerable parts of the body of an attacker. As part of the training, and also at exhibitions, the karateka's strength and accuracy are developed and demonstrated by striking and breaking relatively flat karate boards by blows with the hands and feet, as described for example in Black Belt Korean Karate by D. S. Son and R. J. Clark, Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1983, at pages 140 to 163.
The standardized karate board is a white pine wood board about 12 inches by 12 inches by 1 inch thick. The board is supported on opposite parallel sides with the wood grain running parallel to the sides that are held. Reusable karate boards; as described for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,004,799 to R. L. Kundert; 4,083,557 to R. Friedenthal; and 4,173,336 to R. W. Perry can also be used, at least for practice to reduce the costs of training.
The karate boards are held in stacks of one or more boards of equal size, shape and orientation, with or without spacers between them along the sides that are held. Ordinarily a stack of one or more boards is held along the sides of the stack by the hands of one or more persons in a striking position, whereby the karateka strikes the stack with sufficient force and accuracy to break the karate boards. Manually holding the stack of boards can result in injury to the persons holding the boards as a result of one or more factors, such as the inaccuracy of the karateka, the shattering of the boards upon being struck, fingers of the holding persons on the striking surface of the board, broken boards twisting or slipping out of the holder's grasps, etc.
Mechanical holders for a stack of karate boards that are adapted for mounting on a floor, wall or post have also been suggested; for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,173,336 to R. L. Perry and 4,295,646 to D. Squire. Such mechanical holders are limited in the positions that are practical. It is also more different to set up the stack on a mount, than by manually holding the stack. Also, such mechanical holders usually have metal parts extending in front of and/or alongside the stack that may injure the karateka should he miss the center of the stack and strike the part.
The danger of injury increases with the number of boards that are held, since greater and greater force and accuracy are required to break more and more boards. Also, the greater the number of boards that are present, the more difficult it is to keep the broken boards together just after the strike. Nevertheless, it is still preferred by karatekas to employ hand-held stacks of pine wood boards, and practical improvements for this practice are desirable.